The World's Easiest Paper Flowers

I confess, I am on the "challenged" side of all things DIY.  I occasionally manage to successfully complete a project but it usually takes me at least 3 or more tries to get it right.  You folks usually only get to see the finished product, rarely do I show the sweat, tears and curses usually involved when I craft.


But fear no more, tears begone, for I have found a delightfully easy DIY wedding craft that anyone can do,  I swear.  Since I had a whole bunch of beautiful, decorative paper left over from another project (more on that one in a bit) and since the sizes, shapes, colors and patterns varied so much, options for use were limited.  Ever-frugal me wanted to put the paper to good use so I poked around the blogosphere to see what paper projects were out there.


I attempted a pinwheel or two a la Miss Buttons but that was a disaster.  Not only was my paper not the right size or weight but I just don't have the crafting gene like she does.  After that fail, I literally googled "paper flower tutorial" and this was the second result that popped up.


So, without further ado, I present Miss Trail Mix's Ridiculously Easy Paper Flower Tutorial...


Materials: Paper (decorative or plain), Scissors, Hot Glue Gun, Pencil


Your paper size does not matter, I used a range from 3' x 3" upwards of 5" x 6".  Step one is to draw a spiral on the paper, just like I did here:

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Step 2 is to cut out the spiral, as shown here:

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Once you have your spiral all cut nicely, like this...

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...now the fun begins.  All you're going to do is roll the paper up, starting with the outside of the spiral, like so...

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I used my hot glue gun to secure the paper as I began to roll it.

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Once the very beginning is secured with glue, just continue to roll up the rest of the spiral.  Keep it tight but it doesn't have to be super-duper tight since once it's completely rolled, you will probably let it go a bit to get a looser, more "flowery" shape.

Another tip for rolling the paper is to pinch the bottom of your flower a bit, which creates a better shape as well.  After the entire paper spiral is rolled, use the hot glue gun to secure the bottom so it doesn't come unrolled and VOILA! Paper flower created.

Here's a few I made in the beginning:

   

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I added a little base using the glue gun to some of the flowers so they could be balanced upright.

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Also, because my paper was decorative on side and plain on the other, I did some with the pattern on the inside of the flower and some with the pattern on the outside.  Both looked equally as good, I thought.

With Bridesmaid D by my side, we managed to make about 30 of these little guys in roughly an hour or so (and even Mr Trail Mix got in on the fun, although he only made 2...But it was his first craft attempt for the wedding, so I was happy with his participation!)

Here's a few more shots of my pretties:

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So pretty, right? My flower sizes range from about 1" to 3" but if you wanted to make bigger ones, just make your spiral wider (not necessarily longer in length, although that will help as well.)

I think the possibilities for these are endless.  You could put one on each program, place one at each table setting, glue or string them onto branches, pop them into little votive holders, scatter them artfully across table scapes...The list goes on and on.

I'm actually not 100% decided on what I'm going to use these for, it will depend on how many I make and what spaces at the reception need extra sprucing up.  But I didn't lie to y'all, did I? These are super-easy and super-cute, making them my kind of DIY craft!

Any other creative ideas on how I can put these puppies to good use? Share your easy DIY projects too!